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nabob of Dacca measured ten feet. The height required by the government, for elephants employed in their service, is nine feet.

Tipperah appears to have been the seat of an independent Hindoo principality, for many centuries after the Mahommedan conquest of the rest of Bengal; although its limits were probably at that period more contracted. The Mahommedan historians call it the country of Jagenagur. In 1279 it was invaded by Toghril, the Patan governor of Bengal, who plundered the inhabitants, and brought away 100 elephants. In 1343 it was invaded by Ilyas, the second independent sovereign of the province, who carried off a great quantity of plunder. For many succeeding years the state nevertheless preserved its independence, but was at last brought into subjection in 1733, when a nephew of the Tipperah rajah's fled to Dacca, and procured for his assistance an army of men under the command of Meer Hubbeib Oolah, who put him in possession of the government, on condition of paying a large annual tribute ; so that the whole province became virtually a part of the Mogul empire (itself at that time on the eve of dissolution), and changed its ancient name for that of Roushenabad. It came into our possession, with the rest of Bengal, in 1765; and in 1801 was estimated to contain 750,000 population, in the proportion of three Mahommedans to four Hindoos.

15. Twenty-four pergunnahs, a small district, situated on the south side of Calcutta and east of the Hooghly River, comprehend a territory of 882 square miles, which, in 1757, became the zemindary of the Company, and jaghire of Lord Clive. In 1765 was obtained a ten years prolongation of the Jaghire to his Lordship, after the expiration of which it reverted to the Company. Within its boundaries are no fewer than 190 seminaries maintained by charity lands and voluntary contributions, in which Hindoo law, grammar and metaphysics, are subjects of education. There is also one madrissah, or college, for teaching the Mahommedan law. In 1813 this district was much infested with dacoits, or river pirates, though in an evident state of improvement. The jamâ, or land tax, amounted in 1814 to 1,249,003 rupees (£156,125. 7s. 6d.), and the áb-cari or excise to 1,249,003 rupees (£11,834. 7s. 6d.) It was also observed, that the lands subject to the jamâ were better cultivated than those that were exempted. The total population of the twenty-four pergunnahs, the town of Calcutta, which is sometimes included in them, and the adjacent territories within twenty miles, are estimated at nearly 3,000,000, in the proportion of three Hindoos to one Mahommedan. Budgebudge, in lat. 22° 29′ N. and long. 88° 20' E., is remarkable on account of its capture in

1756.

16. Midnapoor (Mednipur), properly belonging to Orissa, but long attached to Bengal, and now considered one of its districts, lies between the 22nd and 23rd degrees of latitude. It is bounded on the north by Ramgur and Burdwan, on the south by the independent zemindary of Mohurbunge and Balasore, on the west by Singbhoom, Mohurbunge and part of Ramgur, and on the east by Burdwan, Hooghly and the sea. Its

area, in 1784, contained 6102 square miles, but has since received considerable additions, and is now estimated in round numbers at 7300 miles. In 1770 the greatest famine ever recorded in history visited this district, and swept away nearly half its inhabitants. In 1801 it was found to contain one million and a half of inhabitants, and, although the soil is rich and fertile, two thirds of the district are described as consisting of jungle, and swarming with noxious animals. The clearing of the land is said to be prevented by the same superstitious prejudices as prevail in Rámgar'h. In this district there are several forts of mud and stone, now in ruins, from one of which named Bataw, were lately removed twenty unserviceable pieces of artillery. The private houses of the zemindars, and other men of note, frequently consist of ruined forts. Celibacy is in this part of Bengal extremely uncommon; an unmarried Hindoo man of twenty-five, or an unmarried girl of fifteen, being scarcely to be found, and, although the women in general are prematurely debilitated, few marriages are unproductive. The facility of rearing children is extreme. As soon as a child is weaned it lives upon rice, like its parents, requires no care, goes naked for two or three years, and enjoys the best of health. Polygamy, prostitution, religious austerity, and the circumstance of young widows not marrying a second time, have nevertheless considerable influence upon the numerical population. The small pox also commits great ravages, owing to the unwillingness of the natives to practice inoculation.

The principal places of Midnapoor are the town of the same name, 70 miles west by south from Calcutta, Jellasore, Pipley, and Narraingur.

Of the existence of Bengal as a separate kingdom, there is no other evidence than its distinct language and peculiar written character. At the time of the war of Mahabharat, it consisted of three kingdoms, and afterwards formed part of the Maghada empire, from which it was dismembered before the Mahommedan invasion. The last Hindoo prince of this province, mentioned in history, was Lacshmanyah, who held his court at Nuddeah. During the reign of Cuttub ud Deen, the sovereign of Delhi, Mahomet Bukhtyar Khilijce was despatched to invade Bengal. This general captured the metropolis, expelled Lacshmanyah, and afterwards proceeded to Gour, where he established his capital, and reared his mosques on the ruins of Hindoo temples. The whole of this province is said to have been subdued in one year, and the death of the rajah at Juggernauth, where he retired immediately upon his defeat, gave little hope of a restoration. From this time Bengal was ruled by governors delegated by the sovereigns of Delhi, until 1340, when Fakher ud Deen, having assassinated his master, revolted, and after laying the foundation of an independent monarchy, was defeated and put to death. He was succeeded, in A. D. 1343, by Ilyas Khauje, from whom the succession continued till 1538, when Mahmood Shah was expelled by Shere Shah the Afghan, and Bengal once more became an appendage to the throne of Delhi. In 1576 it was conquered by the generals of the emperor Acbar, and four years

afterward formed into a soubah, or vice-royalty of the Mogul empire, by Rajah Tooder Mull. During the government of Azim Khan. A. D. 1534, the English obtained permission to trade with their ships to Bengal, in consequence of a firmaun from the Emperor Shah Jehan; but were restricted to the port of Pipley, where they established their factory. In 1642, during the reign of Sultan Shujah, the second son of Shah Jehan, and brother of Aurergzebe, Mr. Day, the agent who had so successfully established the settlement at Madras, proceeded on a voyage of experiment to Balasore, whence he sent the first regular despatch ever received by the court of directors from Bengal, recommending a factory at Balasore. In 1656 the factories of the Company were withdrawn, owing to the oppression and extortion which they experienced. In 1664 Shaista Khan succeeded to the throne, during whose government the French and Danes established themselves in the province. In 1680 Mr. Job Charnock was restored to his situation of chief at Cossimbazar, and in the year following, Bengal was constituted a distinct agency from fort St. George, or Madras. It was in 1686 that in consequence of a rupture with the Foujdar, or native military officer of Hooghly, as already described, that the agent and council retired to Calcutta. In 1689 Ibrahim Khan ascended to the supremacy, and in 1693, upon the death of Mr. Job Charmock, Mr. Eyre succeeded him, the seat of the Company's trade continuing at Chattanuttee. Sir John Goldesborough was sent out as general commissary and superintendent of all the Company's possessions, but he also died in 1694, having confirmed Mr. Eyre as chief. In consequence of the rebellion of Soobha Singh, in 1696, the foreign settlers, viz. the Dutch at Chinsurah, the French at Chandenagore, and the English at Chattanuttee, obtained permission to put their factories in a state of defence, the first instance of the kind ever tolerated within the limits of the Mogul dominions. In 1700 the reigning prince Azim Ushaun, grandson to Aurengzebe, permitted the Company's agents, in consideration of a valuable present, to purchase the three towns of Chattanuttee, Govindpoor, and Calcutta, with the lands adjacent to their fortified factory, and Mr. Eyre the chief, having strengthened the fort, denominated it Fort William, in compliment to the King,

In 1706 the whole stock of the Company had been removed to Calcutta, where the garrison consisted of 129 soldiers, of whom sixty-six were Europeans, exclusive of the gunner and his crew. After the invasion of Hindostan by Ahmed Shah Abdalli in 1746, and the death of the emperor Mahomet Shah in the year following, the Mogul empire, with the exception of the region in the immediate vicinage of Delhi, may be considered at an end. In 1756 Seraje ud Dowlah, grandson to the late nabob, Ali Verdy Khan, showed a very hostile feeling towards the Europeans, he took possession of the three provinces in the month of April, and on the 20th of June captured Calcutta, on which occasion he shut the prisoners, to the number of 146, in a room 20 feet square, where they all perished, with the exception of twenty-three individuals. On the first

of January in the year following, Calcutta was retaken by Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive, and the tyrant defeated at Plassey, on the 20th of June. Crimes seldom go long unpunished, and this monster is said to have been assassinated in the July following by the son of his successor, in the twentieth year of his age, and the fifteenth month of his reign.

From this period may be dated the commencement of the British government in Bengal. The Dewanny, however, was not fully obtained till 1765, when lord Clive procured it from Shah Alluin, on condition of paying him the annual sum of twenty-six lacks of rupees, and also securing him a territory in Upper Hindostan, both of which he forfeited, in 1771, by putting himself under the protection of the Mahrattas. The acquisition of the Dewanny, observes a native historian, was settled without hesitation or argument, as easily as the purchase of an ass, or any other animal, without envoys or reference either to the king of England, or the Company.' In 1767 lord Clive returned to his native country, and was succeeded by Mr. Verels and Mr. Cartier. A circumstance which occurred about this period, serves to show the state of the inhabitants. In August, 1770, a most alarming phenomenon appeared, of a large black cloud at a distance in the air, which sometimes obscured the sun, and seemed to extend a great way over and about Calcutta. The hotter the day proved, the lower this cloud seemed to descend, and for three days it occasioned great speculation. The brahmins pretended that this phenomenon, which was a cloud of insects, would make its appearance three times; and if ever they descended to the earth, the country would be destroyed by some untimely misfortune. They said, that about 150 years before, there had been such another bad time, when the earth was parched for want of water; and this cloud of insects made its appearance, though it came much lower the second time than it had done before.. On the third day, the weather being very hot and cloudy, they descended so low that they could be plainly seen. They seemed to be about the size of a horsestinger, with a long red body, large head and eyes, keeping close together like a swarm of bees, and, to appearance, flying quite on a line. None, however, were caught, the people being so much frightened by the prognostications of the brahmins. Whilst it rained, they continued in one position for near a quarter of an hour; then they rose five or six feet at once, and in a little time descended as much, until a strong north-west wind blew for two days successively. During its continuance they ascended and descended, but more precipitately than before; and next morning the air was quite clear. For some days before the cloud made its appearance, the toads, frogs, and insects, which, during the rains, make a continual noise through the night, disappeared, and were neither heard nor seen, except in the river.

The year 1772 was distinguished by a change in the administration, and Mr. Hastings was appointed governor. This gentleman was superseded thirteen years afterwards by Sir J. Macpherson, who held the administration till the arrivalof Lord Cornwallis in 1787. During his lordship's

government, which lasted until August, 1793, the land revenue was permanently settled, a code of regulations enacted, the army and magistracy new-modelled, and various additional improvements laid down, in which his successor, Lord Teignmouth, perfectly acquiesced; and the marquis Wellesley, during a residence of some years, viz. from 26th of April, 1798, to the 20th of August, 1805, had the honor of completing them. The Marquis Cornwallis, on his second mission, arrived at Calcutta in July 1805, and died at Ghazipoor, near Benares, on the 5th of the following October. His successor, Sir Geo. H. Barlow, conducted the administration till the arrival of Lord Minto, in July 1807, and on his lordship's return to Europe in 1813, the earl of Moira, who has recently been re-called, assumed the reins of government.

For further and more particular information on the various subjects connected with this article, we refer the reader to Colebrooke, Stewart, Tennant, Grant, Asiatic Researches, Asiatic Journal, Asiatic Annual Register, Lumbert, Bruce, Lord Teignmouth, Milburn, Ward's Religion of the Hindoos, Lord Valentia's Travels, &c. &c.

BENGAL, BAY OF, is a portion of the Indian Ocean, in figure resembling an equilateral triangle, similar to that formed by the continent of the Deccan, &c. south of India, and improperly called the peninsula. The western side extends from Bengal to Ceylon; the eastern from Bengal to Junkseylon, the remaining one across the bay from Ceylon to Junkseylon. Each angle may be estimated at 1120 miles in length, the whole being comprehended within the eighth and twentieth degrees of north latitude. The western coast of the bay is inhospitable for shipping, especially for ships of burden, there being no commodious harbour. On the contrary, the opposite coast affords many excellent harbours, as Aracan, Cheduba, Negrais, and Syriam, in Pegu, near Martaban; Tavoy River, King's Island, Junkseylon, Telebone, Pula Lada, and several others in the Mergui Archipelago. The winds in the bay are said to blow six months of the year from the north-east, and the other six from the south-west, which, though not strictly accurate, is sufficiently

so for common purposes. It is remarkable that in many parts of India, strong winds are observed upon the shore during March and April, blowing directly from the sea, while in the offing it is perfectly calm. Thus, in Bengal, about that period, are strong southerly winds, while in the bay calms prevail until May and June. The south-west monsoon does not commence on the Malabar coast till the opening of the rainy season, although in-shore is visited by strong westerly winds from about the vernal equinox. The tides and currents of the bay run with great velocity; and, as opposite currents frequently meet, a rippling is formed, extending in a straight line for several miles, with a sound resembling that of breakers. The numerous rivers that open on the coast carry into the bay such quantities of slime and mud, that the sea appears turbid at a great distance from the shore. The eastern and western coasts differ very materially. Coromandel has no soundings thirty miles from the shore; the east coast has soundings as far distant as two degrees. Coroinandel opens the prospect of a comparatively clear country; the eastern side is covered with wood. Coromandel is extremely hot, from the winds blowing over arid sands; the eastern coast is always cool. On the former side of the bay, the mouths of the rivers are choked with sand; on the latter they are deep and muddy. Coromandel is often visited with destructive gales; the eastern coast has these but seldom.

The land bordering on the summit of this bay, from Point Godavery to Cape Negrais, is understood in the Hindoo Puranas by the term Calinga, and is divided into three parts: 1. Calinga Proper, which extends from Point Godavery to the western branch of the Ganges; the natives of which are called Calingi by Elian and Pliny. 2. Madhya, or Middle Calinga, in the Delta of the Ganges, which Pliny corruptly calls Medo Galinca. 3. Moga Calinga, extending from the eastern branch of the Ganges to Cape Negrais, in the country of the Mias or Muggs, called by Pliny Macco Calinga. This term Calinga, simply refers to a country abounding with creeks, and might be applied to the sea coast about the mouths of the Indus with equal propriety.

BENGAL QUINCE, in botany, the English name of the cratava marmelos of Willdenow; and ægle marmelos of Correa, and others.

BENGAL STRIPES. See GINGHAMS. BENGO, a river of Angola in Western Africa, having a town of the same name at its mouth. It falls into the Atlantic, in lat. 8° 50'S.

BENGUELA, a province of Angola, bounded on the east by the river Rimba, on the north by the Coanza, and extending west quite to Cape Negro, where the Portuguese possess the only European settlements. Benguela was formerly governed by its own kings; but was entirely ruined by the incursions of the barbarous Giagas, so that its being conquered by the Portuguesc, proved a happiness to the natives. The interior is little known, but the country is reputed very

unhealthy. It produces abundance of salt, and the mountains are said to abound in copper. Coral beads are at once the favorite ornament and

the only money of this district. The chief town is Benguela de san Felipe, where the Portuguese have a fort, and the viceroy resides, north of the bay of Benguela, in long. 12° 50'., lat. 12° 54'S. The harbour is reckoned commodious and safe.

BENHADAD I.; 7, Heb. i. e. a son of noise; the son of Tabrimon, king of Syria, who bribed by the king of Judah, broke his league with Baasha, king of Israel, and ravaged the northern parts of that kingdom. See 1 Kings xv. 18.

BENHADAD II. the son and successor of Benhadad I. was a still more terrible scourge to the Israelites. 1 Kings xx. and xxii. and 2 Kings v-viii.

BENHADAD III, the son of Hazael, king of Syria, was contemporary with Joash and Jeroboam, kings of Israel. 2 Kings xii-xiv.

BEN-HINNOM, or HINNOM, in ancient geography, a valley in the suburbs, and east of Jerusalem, either a part of, or conjoined with the valley of Kidron; infamous for sacrificing children to Moloch by fire. The place in the valley where the idol stood to which the sacrifice was made, was called Tophet (2 Kings xxiii. 10. Jer. vii. 31, 32, and xix. 2.) from the beating of drums or tabors, to drown the cries of the children; called also Geenon or the Valley of Ennon; whence some derive Gehenna, the place of future punishment.

BENI, a large navigable river of the province of Cuzco, in Peru. It has its rise in the Andes, and runs from east to west, until it enters the Ucayale, a branch of the Amazons. On its shores are many missionary settlements. BENJAMIN, '' Heb. i. e. the son of the right hand, the youngest son of Jacob by Rachael, and parent of one of the tribes of Israel. Dr. Horne takes particular notice of the circumstances and place of his birth, as figurative of the birth of the Messiah.

BENJAMIN, of Tudela, a learned Jew of the twelfth century, born at Tudela in Navarre. He is supposed to have explored the countries to the north of the Euxine and Caspian as far as Chinese Tartary; where he collected considerable information respecting the Oriental tribes of the Jews. His narrative is curious, but romantic; and was first published at Constantinople in 1543, with a Latin translation by Arius Montanus. There are, also, English and French versions.

BENJAMIN, a gum. See BENZOIN.

BENIGHT. Be and night. See NIGHT. To darken; to surprise with the coming on of night; figuratively, to cloud with ignorance.

He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i' th' centre and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.

Milton.
Those bright stars that did adorn our hemisphere,
as those dark shades that did benight it, vanish. Boyle.
A storm begins, the raging waves run high,
The clouds look heavy, and benight the sky.
The miserable race of men, that live
Benighted half the year, benumb'd with frosts,
Under the polar Bear.

Garth.

Philips. Being benighted, the sight of a candle, I saw a good way off, directed me to a young shepherd's house.

Sidney.

Dryden.

Id.

Here some benighted angel, in his way, Might ease his wings; and, seeing heaven appear In its best work of mercy, think it there. But what so long in vain, and yet unknown By poor mankind's benighted wit is sought, Shall in this age to Britain first be shown. BENIGN, French, benigne, bénigneté; BENIGNANT, Ital. and Span. benigno, benigBENIG'N, nita, benignidad. Kindness of BENIGN'LY. intention; gentle; courtesy; actually good; generous and liberal; soothing; emollient, in opposition to what is irritating and malignant.

VOL. IV

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BENIGNUS (St.), an Irish divine of the fifth century, said to have been a disciple of St. Patrick, and to have been his successor in the see of Armagh. He died in 468. A work on the Life and Miracles of St. Patrick, the Munster Book of Reigns, and an Irish poem on the conversion of his countrymen, are ascribed to him.

BENIHASSEN, a province of Morocco, on the shores of the Atlantic. It abounds in corn, and is said by Mr. Jackson to contain 300,000 inhabitants. Sallee is the chief town.

BENI-MEZZAB, a southern district of Algiers, inhabited by a tribe of Arabs bearing this name, who pay a mere nominal submission to the Algerine state. The chief town is Gardeiah.

BENIN, an extensive kingdom on the coast of Africa, whose boundaries are not precisely ascertained, although the name seems to be generally applied to that part of the coast extending from the Rio Lagos to the Rio Formosa. It derives its name from the river Bonny or Baní, which flows from the north-west. It was first explored, as Di Barros asserts, in 1486, by Alfonzo de Aveiro, in consequence of a request from the king that missionaries might be sent to instruct him in the Christian religion. The same author mentions an embassy of the Portuguese, sent to a great distance in the interior, for the purpose

of visiting a prince called Ogane, to whom the king of Benin was tributary. This major Rennell supposes to be the celebrated kingdom of Gana, established by the Arabians on the Niger.. The entire coast presents a succession of estuaries, the origin of which has never been explored. These, dividing themselves into branches, intersect each other, and form a number of alluvial islands; and not unfrequently small floating islets, covered with shrubs and bushes, are brought down towards the sea. A recent traveller imagined from this aspect of the coast that the estuaries in question might form the embouchure of the great central river of Africa, the termination of which remains enveloped in mystery. At least the number of outlets appear to be the mouths of one large stream, forming a delta in the interior, like that of the Nile or the Ganges. The banks of these rivers, though fertile and agreeable, are extremely insalubrious, and particularly fatal to Europeans, so that the vessels which ascend them for the purpose of procuring slaves, commonly lose a great part of their crews before they return. This may be one reason why, notwithstanding the facilities of navigation, fewer attempts have been made to explore the interior from this part of the African coast than from almost any other.

There does not appear to have been any establishment on the coast before 1786, when the French erected a fort at the mouth of the Formosa, on the island of Borodo, ceded to them by the king of Wari. This was afterwards destroyed by our cruisers in 1793.

The land in general is low and woody; in some parts it has rivers and lakes, but in others there is a scarcity of water. The soil is every where alluvial, and highly productive, even where fresh water cannot be obtained, as is the case between Gato and Benin. It has a great number of wild beasts, particularly elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, baboons, monkeys, wild boars, deer, &c. The birds are partridges, of which some are blue and some green, turtles, wild ducks, woodcocks, &c. Indian corn and yams are the ordinary food of the natives, and serve in the room of bread; they have two sorts of beans, like horse-beans, but not near so good. Their fruits are cocoa-nuts, cormantine apples, bananas, wild figs, &c. Gold-dust is not found in this kingdom, which, together with the absence of other mineral productions, shows that the higher lands must be at a considerable distance. The negroes have several colors which might serve for painting, and a good sort of soap made with palm-oil and wood-ashes; palm-oil, salt, and acori or blue coral, are articles of trade; they have, also, a great deal of cotton, which not only serves for their own use, but is exported to distant places. A little above Arebo the country is extremely marshy and full of islands, overgrown with lofty trees; it is also incommoded with vast numbers of mosquitoes, which sting terribly, and render the skin full of pustules. There are three principal villages, to which the negroes come from the inland countries to traffic. One is called Boodadeu, and consists of about fifty-five houses or huts, for they are made with reeds and covered with leaves. The

second, called Arebo, is much larger than the former, and pretty well stocked with inhabitants; the houses of this village have much more room, but are built after the same manner as the former. The third is named Agaton and was built upon a hill, and was almost ruined by the wars; but has been lately rebuilt by the negroes on account of its agreeable situation. Great Benin is the capital and residence of the king. The inhabitants are very exact in their trading, and will not recede from any of their old customs; this renders them so slow in their dealings, and backward to pay their debts, that even traders are sometimes obliged to sail before they receive satisfaction; but then they are paid when they return. Some of the merchants are appointed by the government, which demands a sort of custom, though very trifling. There are three sorts of officers under the king; the first are always near him, and none can address him but by their means of the second sort, one takes care of the slaves, another of the cattle, another of the streets, another of war, and so on. Children go almost naked till they are fourteen, when they wrap a cotton cloth round their middles; the richer sort put on a sort of calico gowns, when they go abroad, with a kind of drawers; but within they are contented with their usual cloth: the women of the superior rank wear their cotton cloths like petticoats, and have a covering round their shoulders, but keep it open before. The rich inhabitants of Benin live upon beef, mutton, and poultry; their drink is water, and brandy when they can get it. The poorer sort live upon dried fish, bananas, and beans; their drink is water and palmwine. Their chief handicrafts-men are, smiths, carpenters, and curriers: but they perform all their work in a very bungling manner. The men have as many wives as they can keep, whom they take without any ceremony, except giving a treat to their relations: when M. Palisot de Beauvois was in this country, one of the king's ministers had no fewer than 400. The wives of the lower sort may go where they please; but those of the rich are shut up. The husband, generally speaking, is jealous of his wives with respect to his own countrymen, but extremely indulgent to their connexion with Europeans, and not unfrequently offers them himself. In other cases when a woman is caught in adultery she is turned away, and the goods of the man are forfeited to the husband; but if the relations of the woman are rich, they prevail with him to overlook the fault by dint of presents. They use circumcision, which is performed seven days after the children are born, at which time the father makes a feast for the relations; they have also customs, relating to uncleanness, resembling those of the Jews. Thieves are punished by making the party amends, if they can, otherwise they are bastinadoed; but murder is always punished with death. When a person is only suspected of a crime, they have several ways of putting him to a trial, like the fire ordeal, or the bitter water of the Jews; but they are of such a nature, that the innocent may be as often condemned as the guilty. The religion of this country, like that of the rest of this coast, is a fetish (fertiço) worship, debased by

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